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Atari 8-bit USB Power Adapter on Ebay


cncfreak

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So, are USB ports generally 1.5amp rated or where would you find such a adapter to make this work?

 

If you had a 1.5amp rated adapter would that be a problem for the 600XL which requires 1.0 amp?

 

USB ports on a computer only supply about 500mA (0.5A), so no where near enough power there...

 

Chargers can give considerably more current

iPhone and iPad 1 & 2 chargers are rated at about 1 Amp

iPad 3 and above are rated at about 2 Amps (So should be good for all 800XL 600XL 130XE etc...)

As long as the computer uses less than the charger rating you should be fine using it.

 

The charger wil only give the computer what it "needs", but of course can't give it more than it has to give.

 

However Please beware. Dave Jones at the EEVblog podcasts looked in to the design of some of the cheaper USB charges you find on eBay. He found them to be "Dangerous". They used really bad designs. So if you are going to use a charger make sure it's from a well known brand; Apple, Samsung…

 

Edit: found the link: http://www.eevblog.com/2012/11/20/eevblog-388-apple-clone-usb-charger-teardown/

 

And by Dangerous I mean to both you and your Atari. :(

Edited by Sub(Function(:))
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This lead is intended to be used for a USB power supply which these days are more and more becoming available.

 

For example - i bought a USB Fan for $10 which came which a wall powered plug with usb power socket built in (similar to the kindle/tablet/iphone style concept).

 

As long as the amps are sufficient then the 5V rail that is universal with USB, then this should be fine, although a 1.6 -2amp version would perhaps be more comfortable a rating.

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2.0A chargers are becoming more common - afaik you already need one for the iPad 3 & 4, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - and I believe my radio shack universal power supply with usb port does 2a.

 

I'll probably have something - I do notice the two chargers I have near my desk, an LG phone charger, and Coby aftermarket dual usb charger - both are insufficient (.7a and 1.0a).

 

Although you could use a Y cable to draw power from both ports. Probably not cost effective to do that, but, I imagine if one just had to power their Atari from their PC - something could be arranged, lol...

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However Please beware. Dave Jones at the EEVblog podcasts looked in to the design of some of the cheaper USB charges you find on eBay. He found them to be "Dangerous". They used really bad designs. So if you are going to use a charger make sure it's from a well known brand; Apple, Samsung…

Apple is aware of the danger of 3rd party USB chargers as well. Thats why they offer a trade-in program :D

 

http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter-takeback/

Edited by fibrewire
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Apple is aware of the danger of 3rd party USB chargers as well. Thats why they offer a trade-in program :D

 

http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter-takeback/

This may apply to iPhones or small smt circuitry where current flow isn't regulated.I can't recall at this moment but the a8 may have a current flow resistor inseries with the 5v rail inside or not be affected.One way is to put around an 8 watt resistor to a value of say 3 ohm between the inside connector on the a8 and the track and this would approximately allow no more than 1.5 amp to the atari. (Surge or not) Much more practicable if your comfortable modding the a8, however I don't think the a8 is as sensitive as iPhones or kindled as my unofficial $3 kindle psu is 75 per cent lower ampage and it does fine! Edited by Magic Knight
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@Magic Knight: If you haven't done so please watch the EEVblog link I posted. There is some good entertainment in it dispite the serious nature.

 

In a Nutshell: One of the designs shown could possible put main voltage on the USB port shield. It's not about regulation it's about really dangerous design. In normal operation things will work, but the case is what happens when somthing becomes abnormal.

 

Looking at the blog, I certainly wouldn't use one. And as fiberwire points out it seems to have scared Apple in to doing somthing as well.

 

Anyway all I want to say is be safe guys, this is mains voltages were talking about.

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As the power to the atari is dc and 5v at that then it's not mains voltage, and short circulating is always a risk if not done properly,

 

I wouldn't recommend thus for newbies but as placing a small resistor in line to the pcb whilst avoiding the shield is not rocket science to some on here I'm sure, then this method may be of use for those experienced and know what to do. The incognito and ultimate 1mb upgrades are greatly more demanding.

 

Conductivity to the shield is not a side effect and would be the result of carelessness, however I do urge caution on those who are not confident or know exactly what to do,

 

Personally I'd use the atari psu but anyone adamant about the usb psu and surging may find this of interest otherwise I'm not going to dwell on the ethics,

Edited by Magic Knight
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In addition please note the difference between chargers and power supplies - that chargers inject fixed current to devices and power supplies only give what is needed - be careful that a charger used May just force several amps into a electronic device whether it needs it or not. Resulting in damage,

 

The forementioned ones from Amazon would better served with the resistor regulation thus reducing the current or a power supply based one to avoid disappointment altogether,

Edited by Magic Knight
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In my experience you can plug in a phone that was designed for use with a 900ma charger and plug it into apples 2.1a charger without ill effect, it's not going to vary the voltage in order to force 2.1 amps whether it needs it or not, is that the suggestion? I am admittedly a complete neophyte, I am just saying for me it's always worked fine.

 

Well I got lucky I found both an apple 10watt ...originally came with an iPad 3, and I found a Samsung oem USB charger....So I should be set to check with these quality chargers. I did watch the video, no doubt those cheap chargers are dangerous, about as dangerous if not more so than a 30 year old ps...which are also known to blow up our Ataris or so I am told. my hope is the apple part will be quality. apple does sell a 12 watt for 19.99 now, which is reasonable for them. Imho

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Thanks to those smarter than (most of you) I who pointed out that most PC USB ports are good for 0.5 amp. While I respect that seller very much for offering one-off products to power Ataris, I should think that it would be ****VERY**** prudent for him (her?) to have emphasized that fact. I'm amongst the numerous numbskulls that might have plugged it into my PC or laptop. I suppose someone knowledgeable enough to craft and market such a cable knows this, and it is interesting that they did not disclose this. The fact that this cable isn't "good" (but will plug in) with many (most???) PCs but *IS* good with a known-good chargers (1.5-2amp) from a reputable supplier should have been emphasized. Should it not have been? Happier customers (due to disaster-avoidance) would be the result. Would it not?

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In addition please note the difference between chargers and power supplies - that chargers inject fixed current to devices and power supplies only give what is needed - be careful that a charger used May just force several amps into a electronic device whether it needs it or not. Resulting in damage,

You cannot force more current into a device than it is trying to draw. It doesn't matter whether or not I use a 750Amp 12VDC car battery or a 1Amp 12VDC wall wart to power a device that needs half an amp. It will never take more than half an amp.
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